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Over time, dividend payments represent a large fraction of investors' total returns.

In January 1993, the SPDRs exchange-traded fund, which tracks the S&P 500, made its debut. In the 14 and a half years since then, an investment in that fund would have more than quadrupled your money. That's not bad.

But not all of that return came from a rise in the stocks of the S&P 500. No, quite a bit of it was the product of boring old dividends. In fact, on a $1,000 investment that turned into $4,021, dividends would have accounted for $498. That's around 16% of the total profits.

And that is not an aberration. It's actually low. Historically, a full 41% of the market's return came from dividends. So, as easy as it may be to ignore those payments in the short term when doing stock research, know that they add up over time to big returns.

It gets betterOf course, hardly anyone invests simply for the dividends. Yet, literally hundreds of companies are known for delivering great payments, year after year. If you actively seek them out, you can see a tremendous difference between the money you get from capital gains and your total return, which includes that extra cash.

Take a look at the returns from these dividend dynamos, over the same period of time that SPDRs has been in existence:

Company

Gain Only(No Dividends)

Total Return(With Dividends)

Dividend Differenceon $1,000 Investment

Dividend Boost OverGains Alone

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM)

267.9%

380.5%

$1,126.02

42.0%

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO)

154.1%

203.3%

$491.27

31.9%

Verizon (NYSE:VZ)

65.6%

153.0%

$873.76

133.1%

Merck (NYSE:MRK)

151.8%

246.7%

$949.28

62.6%

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

289.5%

390.7%

$1,011.71

34.9%

Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

161.6%

411.8%

$2,502.58

154.9%

PNC Financial Services (NYSE:PNC)

221.8%

332.7%

$1,108.75

50.0%

Average:

187.5%

302.7%

$1,151.91

72.8%

*All data split adjusted.

In a mere 14 years, the difference between capital gain and total return is staggering. In fact, your total return was nearly 73% better than your growth alone, just from the dividends. On average, you would have received more than your entire investment back in these dividend-friendly companies. Had you reinvested those payments rather than taken them as cash, your total return on your initial investment would have been even higher. Imagine taking that gap and expanding it over your entire investing career. If it's that large now, imagine it after 30, 40, even 50 years.

A lifetime strategyYes, that 50-year look forward is appropriate to dividend-focused investors who expect to still be around then. It's even appropriate for those who don't expect to be around, but would like to leave a substantial legacy to their families. After all, dividends most often come in the form of convenient, easy-to-spend cash. During your working years, you can reinvest those payments to help boost your total returns. Once you're retired, you can simply start taking those dividends as cash. Presto! You've got an instant, built-in cash flow machine to help you meet your retirement lifestyle needs.

If you're serious about making money from your investing, then you need to pay attention to your dividends. Over time, those little payments certainly add up to create great wealth. At Motley Fool Income Investor, lead advisor James Early understands just how powerful those seemingly tiny distributions can be. That's why, every month, he picks two companies that look best suited to deliver decent dividends to their shareholders. Join us now for a free 30-day trial to start benefiting from all of the rewards the stock market has to offer.

This article was originally published on Nov. 29, 2006. It has been updated.

At the time of publication, Fool contributor Chuck Saletta owned shares of Merck. JPMorgan Chase and Southern Company are Income Investor selections. Coca-Cola is a Motley Fool Inside Value pick. The Fool has a disclosure policy.